So my clue for this one was a bit vague, I admit. The band / album that I think is very similar to this is #51 on my list – American Heritage’s Sedentary. The main point of comparison is primarily in the vocals and the heavy sludge sound on both albums, plus the fact that the exact sonic flavor of both bands is very difficult to classify, genre-wise. Whereas I’d say AH is a sludge band with hardcore / metalcore leanings, I would be more inclined to say that KEN Mode is a sludge band with aspects of grindcore and / or post-hardcore mixed in. Also similarly to AH, this Canadian trio – of which brothers Jesse (guitar, vocals) and Shane (drums) Matthewson have been the only constant members – has been around for approximately a decade. They have released a few albums during that time (this being their fourth), and up until now, they haven’t been on my radar screen – but this album has changed that. The pace of the album is brisk, for the most part – the only time these cats slow down to some extent is when they’re building momentum for another brutal attack on the listener’s senses. For the most part, this is a frenetic ride of screaming mayhem, but all the while the attack is raging, there is a looming sense of organization and structure about it all. In listening to Venerable, I’m reminded in many ways of the inaugural album Serpents by the band Struck by Lightning (also a power trio), which is the new project of ex-Mouth of the Architect bassist Greg Lahm. Besides the nearly relentless assault of the tracks and the superb songwriting that has gone into each one, another point of comparison between Venerable and Serpents is the extremely thick bottom-end and the way that the bass guitar actually leads the songs on many occasions. In the case of SBL, it’s probably due to the fact that Lahm is the main songwriter, but here, the bassist position is one that has been filled and re-filled about four or five times (depending on whether you’re making a distinction between live and studio bassists). At any rate, the music itself is fantastic, the songwriting is excellent, and the superb production by Converge workhorse Kurt Ballou (seriously, does this guy ever SLEEP!??), is just so exceptional in that it allows this extremely heavy music to breathe freely, and thus have an extremely polished edge to go along with its massive heft.

So as I mentioned in my hint, this is “the first of the plethora of old-school death metal albums released in 2011 to crack the Sexy Sixty”. In hindsight, what I really meant by the term “OSDM albums” is “modern albums made by classic OSDM bands”, not albums made by modern bands who have an OSDM sound (because there are a few of those on my list, too). Anyway, that little clarification aside, this album is obviously the hallmark of the triumphant and much overdue return of these death metal masters, after nearly two decades of non-existence under the “Autopsy” moniker. Perhaps one of the most obvious and straightforward positive aspects about this release is the fact that it clearly sounds like the next logical step the band would have taken after their album Mental Funeral. What’s truly awesome is that that album was released in 1991, which basically means that they have more or less picked up exactly where they left off twenty years ago, without missing a beat. Who else can say this? I’m not sure anyone can. It’s really just so awesome to be able to honestly say that this group of guys just released a genuine death metal album in the classic old-school vein, but that it actually took place in 2011. Just in case you’ve never checked this band out (and by the way, if you haven’t, I really don’t want to know you), give this colossal album a listen and you’ll know exactly why Autopsy is one of the founding fathers of old-school death metal.

I'm still following this, just so you know. You mustn't get discouraged and quit now.

Thanks for the kind words, brother. Fear not, I've not despaired of this thing - I've just been really busy with work and family and whatnot. I've only been stopping by here for a few minutes at a time lately....not long enough to get back to this list for any length of time...but I will complete it.

Honestly Nat, I don't even see the point of finishing this list. You've got a full-time job, you've got a family - you obviously don't have much free time. Why not use it for checking out new music, listening to older shit, etc.? Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love your reviews, but you probably have better things to do with your free time (which is probably why you haven't posted an entry in over a month). Just something to think about...

List-writing isn't really necessary if you don't have that much time to do it in the first place. For me, I don't have a job and I'm only enrolled in three classes because I'm a piece of shit - every hour I'm awake is free time Thus this is a fun task for me.

It's even more fun for me. That's why I do it. I just haven't had a lot of time lately, because life has been the perfect storm of family shit and work shit and other shit lately, all adding up to "Nat is never around a PC with more than a few minutes at a time" these days.

That doesn't mean I don't want to finish this, though - it just means I'm behind as fuck on this and a lot of other low-priority things right now.

Unfortunately, it looks like Andy will end up being right about this thread after all:

Quote:

Originally Posted by ravenheart

This isn't going to be finished until June... at the earliest...

...and you have no idea how much that galls the fuck out of me.

I'll finish this someday, though - even if it short-dicks every cannibal on the Congo.